Hurley, VA – March 3-9, 2024

The February project director, office manager and cooks returned home at the end of last week and a new crew of long-term volunteers arrived to oversee the work in Hurley, VA for the month of March. The seven of us, Verne, Joyce, Josie, Lauren, Dan, Pamela and Corey are from Pennsylvania, Ohio and Manitoba. Our team includes the 14-year old son of Dan and Pamela.

In spite of having no weekly volunteers this first week of March, Dan, Lauren and Corey still made progress on the Atwell house. They worked on electrical tasks in the kitchen and throughout the house, including wiring, switches and closet lights. They sanded, painted doors and touched up ceiling paint, trim work and inside door frames. They installed the kitchen counter and a transition strip into the shower and hung the newly painted doors. Verne ordered appliances for this house and picked them up Friday.

Project coordinator Frank Hoover and his driver arrived from Pennsylvania on Thursday. He led in the house blessing for the Baker house Thursday afternoon. Johnny & Desiree and their two sons are delighted with their new house. After the dedication service and a tour of the house, we enjoyed visiting with the family.

Even though the work is not completed on the Atwell house, we held the house blessing for them on Friday, March 8, since Frank was still here. Larry & Linda Dotson, future occupants of the house, attended, along with their son, who lives next door. Their granddaughter and her mother, the Dotson’s daughter-in-law, drove two hours to attend the dedication service. Larry’s sister, for whom MDS has already built a new house, was also present. All of them expressed their sincere gratitude for the beautiful house Larry & Linda will soon occupy. We enjoyed visiting with this family also.

We had a great week and are looking forward to the arrival of ten weekly volunteers next week.

The team from Hurley, VA